i dont understand users , personally i am a windows 8.1 user and im absolutely love it. I dont need the start button and im tired of using floating icons. Dont you get tired of using the same appearance for me metro interface was not bad at all. I personally think some people are just afraid of new things. We got to change this attitude or and embrace new innovatoons and stick to old ones. Moving forwards creates new things .

Fingers crossed they'll add in some of Jays great fixes for Windows 8. Not sure im happy with 'apps' being usable in floating panels tho... it seems like too much of a compromise. There should be a clear split between finger friendly apps and mouse users... something thats fixed on installation and gives either use the best possible experience IMHO.

It doesnt matter how advance the OS is, but it should be easy to use and simple. I am a windows 7 user, windows 8 was good but had few issues like simplicity and what is where. I am working for a big MNC but our IT department is not recomending the 8th OS. Lets see how it goes with 9.

"Does bumping a product's version number indicate the prior version is a failure?"

I definitely see your point-- and I agree: bumping a product's version number doesn't intrinsically signal that the previous version failed. But Thurrott's source seems to have indicated that Microsoft is opting for Windows 9 expressly to differentiate the product from Windows 8. In the context he presented, the implication isn't that Win 9 is just a new iteration; it's that Win 9 is a new iteration that has to undue the bad will caused by Windows 8. It's not quite the same situation as iOS bumping from version 3 to version 4, or something like that.

Not free maybe, but how about say $39 for for a limited time for those upgrading from XP to Windows 7. Many with XP did not take advantage of the $39 Windows 8 upgrade deal because there was some confusion as to whether you could even install it on a motherboard that didn't support UEFI. If they could offer Windows 8 for $39, surely they wouldn't be losing much by providing Windows 7 for the same price.

Don't forget that Vista was received badly, perhaps even worse than Windows 8, so people had little incentive to upgrade to it. Later on when Windows 7 came out, people were by then just comfortable with XP and stuck with it, seeing little benefit in upgrading. But now that XP has reached end of life, people DO have valid, imperative reasons to upgrade.

Either that, or go out and buy a new box with Windows 7, throw a flavor of Linux on the old box, and wait and see if Microsoft will throw out a "deal" for Windows 9 in 15 months.

I just hate to see all these millions of XP boxes end up in landfills simply because people didn't perceive them as being worth upgrading, hence making that upgrade "cheap" might allow them to be used for several more years.

While I won't disagree that the cost of a Windows license is hard to swallow, for over a decade they've provided free XP patches. It might be reasonable for them to offer XP folks a reduced-cost license. Oh -- wait....didn't they already do that when Vista debuted, again when Windows 7 debuted and yet again when Windows 8 debuted? While Microsoft can certainly afford this and I agree that it would build good will, it certainly isn't because Microsoft doesn't deserve something from XP folks. There's also those folks who are still running on original XP-class hardware. I think they've more than received a fair value for their initial purchase and other than keeping the good will of a loyal customer, I can't see how Microsoft owes them a free upgrade.

Given that millions of PCs are still running XP and that Microsoft is pulling the plug come April 8th, they ought to provide Windows 7 upgrades for nearly free to this vast installed user base. That would at least win back some of the consumer good will they have lost with the Windows 8 fiasco.

This would also help prevent the proliferation of malware due to all those unpatched XP boxes.

If Microsoft truly cared about their customers they would at least entertain this idea.

As InformationWeek Government readers were busy firming up their fiscal year 2015 budgets, we asked them to rate more than 30 IT initiatives in terms of importance and current leadership focus. No surprise, among more than 30 options, security is No. 1. After that, things get less predictable.